With an ensemble cast of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, and Bruce Willis, The Expendables is an action film of an elite, highly trained team of mercenaries deployed to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to halt local pirates from executing the hostages of a naval ship. The film screens on Saturday, December 4 at 10 p.m. and Sunday, December 5 at 8 p.m. Admission is $6 for seniors, University of Miami alumni, faculty, non UM-students, and staff. General admission is $8. Cash only. Free for UM students. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com or call 305-284-4861.

Young Georges Bizet died soon after the premier of Carmen and thus never enjoyed the success of his creation. Carmen wasn’t initially well received, but became, and still is, one of the most famous and popular works in the opera repertoire. The film screens on Saturday, December 4 at 12 p.m. and Sunday, December 5 at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free for UM students; $18 for seniors, University of Miami alumni, faculty, non-UM students, and staff. General admission is $20. Cash only. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com or call 284-4861.

Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo goes behind prison walls to follow convict cowgirls on their journey to the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo. The annual event has been held since 1940; in 2006 female inmates were allowed to participate for the first time. In a state with the highest female incarceration rate in the country, these women share common experiences such as broken homes, drug abuse, and alienation from their children.

Part Wild West show and part coliseum-esque spectacle, the “prison rodeo” is one of the last of its kind, a relic of the American penal system. Prisoners compete on wild broncs and bucking bulls, risking severe and sometimes permanent injury. The film screens on Friday, December 3 at 7 p.m., Saturday, December 4 at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 5 at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free for UM students; $6 for seniors, University of Miami alumni, faculty, non-UM students, and staff. General admission is $8. Cash only. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com or call 305-284-4861.

Two of the giants of French cinema, Claude Chabrol and Gerard Depardieu, team up for the only time for the director’s 50th and final feature film, a wry thriller about a police commissioner trying to balance professional instinct with family duty. Once again, Paul Bellamy (Depardieu) and his wife are spending their vacation at her family home in a quiet town. But just as they’re settling into their reassuringly predictable holiday routine, his perennially troubled younger brother shows up, joined by a mysterious stranger seeking Bellamy’s protection. The film screens on Friday, December 3 at 9 p.m., Saturday, December 4 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 5 at 6 p.m. Admission is free for UM students and $6 for seniors, University of Miami alumni, faculty, non UM-students, and staff. General admission is $8. Cash only. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com or call 284-4861.

Cattle Herder's Hat, collected between 1960-1973. Gift of Professor and Mrs. Robert R. Ferens.

Some never before seen works are on exhibit as part of “Useable Art: African Aesthetics in Daily Life from the UM Lowe Art Museum.” Most African art serves a function—spiritual if not utilitarian, or often both. This exhibition consists of objects that provide some purpose of daily living that can be relatively easily recognized by non-Africans. They can also be appreciated for the appeal of their forms, the beauty of their patterns, and the quality of craftsmanship.

The works are on view through Sunday, January 16, 2011, with the curator’s lecture also taking place on January 16 at 2 pm at the Lowe.

The Lowe’s extensive holdings of African art include not only ceremonial masks and ritual figures but also many objects made for use in daily life. This exhibition will showcase a selection of the finest containers, textiles, tools, home furnishings, and other useful objects—very few of which have ever been displayed.

“Usable Art” is organized by the Lowe Art Museum and is sponsored in part by The State of Florida and the African Art Endowment.

The Lowe Art Museum is located on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables. Gallery and Museum Store hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.; Closed Monday. Regular Admission (not including special events) is $10; $5 for seniors and non-UM students; free for Lowe Art Museum members, University of Miami students, faculty and staff, and children under 12. For more information, call 305-284-3535 or visit www.lowemuseum.org.